Newest Viktor&Rolf collection on show next year

Press release

Newest Viktor&Rolf collection on show next year in Boijmans
16 July 2013

The international fashion world recently celebrated in Paris the comeback to haute couture - after 13 years - of Viktor&Rolf. Even before the collection was revealed, author, art activist and benefactor Han Nefkens purchased a large number of creations by this internationally renowned fashion duo. These will be on show next year in ‘The Future of Fashion is Now’ in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

Half of the latest collection by Viktor&Rolf will appear in ‘The Future of Fashion is Now’ exhibition, which will be held in the autumn of 2014 in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The major fashion exhibition will take visitors on a journey along the most innovative fashion and fashion talents from all over the world. These world citizens are already questioning the most important changes in fashion taking place today. The new Viktor&Rolf collection, inspired by the famous Japanese Zen garden in Kyoto, will be given a place among other international celebrities such as Hussein Chalayan (Cyprus), Rejina Pyo (Korea) and Pyuupiru (Japan). The selection - ranging from clothes and accessories to videos and installations - will be shown in the 1500 m2 Bodon Gallery in the museum. ‘The Future of Fashion is Now’ is an initiative of Han Nefkens and fashion-expert José Teunissen.

Zen garden
During the Haute Couture Week in Paris, Viktor&Rolf transformed the stage into a tableaux vivant inspired by Japanese Zen gardens. The Oriental gardens are known for their strict compositions of rocks in gravel beds, featuring geometric lines. Twenty models, dressed in minimalistic creations of black techno-material, circled around and then assumed a series of seated or lying poses. The designers modelled the textile in such a way that the models together created dark rock formations. The sculptural shapes of the pleated dresses, jackets and capes with meandering seams are adjusted to the pose the model assumes.

On the cusp of art and fashion
The complete acquisition will be on show in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in an installation inspired by this performance. Han Nefkens has this to say about his acquisition: “I am interested in work that moves in the area between fashion and conceptual art and this acquisition is a good example of this. It is enormously satisfying that next year, these creations by Holland’s most international couturiers will be shown in the sort of museum setting they deserve.”

Han Nefkens
Han Nefkens is active in many areas of the Dutch and international culture sector. Han Nefkens has been connected with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen since 2001 in various ways. Initially, H+F Mecenaat was founded in 2005 as an exclusive five-year collaboration between Han Nefkens and the museum. Its aim was to stimulate contemporary art and artists at an international level and to generate attention for them among a new public. In 2010, the collaboration was continued in an amended way. It was given the name of ‘Fashion on the Edge’ and since then has concentrated on stimulating experimental developments in the fashion world. This recently resulted in an exhibition of work by the Belgian fashion designer Christophe Coppens. In the autumn of 2012, the museum exhibited work by the Han Nefkens Fashion Award winner Rejina Pyo. ‘The Future of Fashion is Now’ is a sequel to the successful exhibition ‘The Art of Fashion’, which was held in Rotterdam in 2009. Both exhibitions are made possible by Han Nefkens Fashion on the Edge.

For pictures of the new collection, please visit the Facebook page of Viktor&Rolf. www.facebook.com/viktorandrolf

Visit ARTtube.nl for videos about the exhibition ‘The Art of Fashion’ in 2009.